When one reflects that no figure of a Parrot is found in ancient Egyptian art, and that no Parrot is mentioned in the Bible, then one begins to understand the interest of Europeans in these "spoilt children" of the animal world, the "monkeys of the bird world," and "the cream of the Australian avifauna." Their tameness, their affection, their entertaining habits, and their remarkable powers of speech, all help to render Parrots the favorites amongst birds. The brilliance of their plumage, their intelligence, and their longevity excite wonder, for Parrots have been known to live 100 years in captivity. Presumably, they would live even longer in a state of nature. Humboldt recorded, as quoted in Newton's "Dictionary of Birds," "that in South America he met with a venerable bird, which remained the sole possessor of a literally dead language, the whole tribe of Indians, Atures by name, who spoke it, having become extinct." Australians will perhaps be surprised to learn that there are no Parrots or Cockatoos in Europe, and none in Asia, excepting India, none in Africa north of the Tropic of Cancer, and only two in North America, and that one of these is rapidly becoming extinct, and that Africa and India are poor in Parrots. Thus South America and Australasia alone are left as the lands that contain these interesting birds in any number. While South America contains the largest Parrots--the Macaws--all the South American species belong to one family. In the Australian region six families of Parrots are represented. Four of them are confined to the region, while but one species of the fifth family (Cockatoos) is found outside the region.